Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi a.k.a. Abu Ali al-Harithi ( ar, أبو علي الحارثي ) (died November 3, 2002) was an
al-Qaeda operative and a citizen of
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
who is suspected of having been involved in the October 2000 USS Cole bombing,
[
] and the October Limburg attack.
He was killed by the Central Intelligence Agency, CIA during a covert targeted killing mission in
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
on November 3, 2002. The CIA used a Predator drone to shoot the Hellfire missile that killed al-Harithi and five other al-Qaeda operatives as they rode in a vehicle east of the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, Sanaa. It was the first known drone strike outside of Afghanistan.
Al-Harithi was traveling with Kamal Derwish (Ahmed Hijazi), a US citizen, and Derwish's killing was the first known case of the U.S. government killing a U.S. citizen during the "War on Terror".
[
] It was also the first Predator attack outside Afghanistan.
The George W. Bush administration, citing the authority of a presidential finding that permitted worldwide covert actions against Osama bin Laden's network, considered al-Harethi and his traveling party a justifiable military target.
[ Nonetheless, the targeted killing of al-Harethi was the subject of debate on its legality.][
]
See also
* CIA activities in Yemen
References
External links
Steve Scher on Weekday February 23, 2007
KUOW-FM interviews James Bamford on the National Security Agency (Note: minutes 21–24 of 54 minute audio)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harithi, Abu Ali
Yemeni al-Qaeda members
Assassinated al-Qaeda members
2002 deaths
Deaths by drone strikes of the Central Intelligence Agency in Yemen
Year of birth missing
People from Sanaa